Guide wire management in the operating room is problematic, and threading the needle of the arteries or other vessels including, but not limited to veins, intestines, fallopian tubes, etc. to reach the area to be treated is difficult. Further, once the guide is in the desired location, it is often difficult to make certain that the it remains in that location. Even further, once the guide wire, catheter, endoscope or other device is in the desired location and another device is placed over, through or along side it, the initially placed device has a tendency to move due to the forces exerted on it when other devices are using it as a guide.
Additionally, other anchors are required for attaching tissue or other matter to improved or different locations within the body.
Even further, vessel occluders are often required for a variety of medical procedures.
The instant invention describes a device that facilitates all of these procedures in a novel fashion.
For these reasons, it is desirable to provide an improved devices and methods for their use, which facilitate 1. using the physiologic motions of the body to help direct the device. In addition, flow pressure differential can be artificially created or enhanced by the technician/physician so that this same technology can be used when physiologic means is unavailable or insufficient. Further, the natural contractile forces of the body (e.g. those of the intestinal tract, gall bladder, esophagus, etc.) can be harnessed so that the device including, but not limited to guide wires, catheters, endoscopes, etc. are moved along with those forces. 2. Even further, it is desirable to provide a device that has an anchoring mechanism on it so that it will not move once in its desired position. 3. And yet even another desired characteristic would be to provide an anchored device that has a tensioning characteristic applied to it for placement of other devices over through or along side the first placed device. 4. And finally, another desired characteristic is that of a simple and effective occlusion system.
There is a continuing need for improved devices to meet at least the following objectives.
The first objective is to reduce cost. This is particularly important in recent years where it is clear for safety and sanitary reasons that these will be single use devices. A device, although it performs a function in some improved manner, will not be widely used if it is considerably more costly than the alternatives available.
A second objective is to provide a device that is simple to use and in a very real sense simple to understand. This will encourage its adoption and use by medical personnel. It will also tend to keep cost low.
The third objective is to provide a device that entails a procedure with which the medical profession is familiar so that the skills that have been learned from previous experience will continue to have applicability.
A fourth objective relates to the effectiveness and thoroughness with which the device is intended.
A fifth objective concerns safety; a matter which is often so critical as to trump the other considerations. It is important to avoid unnecessary tissue trauma.
There are trade-offs in design considerations to achieve the above five interrelated objectives. Extreme simplicity and a very simple procedure might over compromise safety. Addressing all of these considerations calls for some trade-off between the objectives.
Accordingly, a major object of this invention is to provide an improved occlusion, tensioning, anchoring and flow device that achieves the objectives of reduced cost, enhanced simplicity, a standard procedure, high effectiveness and a high degree of safety. Most particularly, it is an object of this invention to achieve these objectives with an enhanced trade-off value for the combined objectives.
For these reasons, it is desirable to provide an improved device that may circumvent some of the problems associated with previous techniques. This improved medical device provides a new configuration that will eliminate some of those problems and methods for their use, which facilitate removal of vascular obstructions in the operating room or interventional suite.